clipped from blogs.zdnet.com

Resilient cockroach-inspired robot survives large falls, dashes off

IEEE Spectrum writes of a small resilient robot created by Paul Birkmeyer and Prof. Ronald Fearing at the Biomimetic Millisystems Lab at UC Berkeley.

Aptly called DASH (Dynamic Autonomous Sprawled Hexapod), the six-legged insect-inspired robot can reach speeds of 1.5 meters per second and is flexible/strong enough to be dropped from a height of 28 meters without breaking. A single DC motor powers the legs and a small servomotor to slightly deform the robot’s body, allowing it to make turns.

clipped from robotics.eecs.berkeley.edu

Prototyping Folded Robots

Step 1: The Drawing

Step 2: Cutting the Flexures

Step 3: Flexure Layer Insertion

Step 4: Laminating

Step 5: Cutting the Outlines

Step 6: Releasing the Parts

Step 7: Pre-folding Linkages

Step 8: Final Assembly

Example Structures

SMA Driven Crawler

Motor-Driven Hexapod

Micromechanical Flying Insect

Prototyping using other Materials